So I'm back!

Well I have finished grad school and I passed my last term with all A's.
So I am going to get back to writing more than just book reviews. By September I want to have a short story that I started writing about a year and a half ago. Then I am going to give it to my spouse to beta read it. Then I need to start rereading his first novel to help edit. Wish me luck everyone! I hope that my self control is greater than my desire to be lazy. Or better yet the reason that I was having trouble writing was because I was so stressed and busy with grad school that now I am free everything will just come together.

What I have been writing

So it has been awhile since I have posted here. Up-date I am writing but nothing that I am going to publish either here or anywhere. Writing is more than just a dream or job with me. It is a way that I handle things. I have had some really good things happen to me in life like only two more classes until I graduate with my master degree and soon I hope to getting a job in my field. My writings for the past few weeks have been personal and helping me handle all of emotions from the past few weeks. Normally writing is used to help process negative emotions but I have to get all my feelings out be they good or bad. It is part of the Lupus I have to express myself or the Lupus will react. The body handles all emotions in the same way so when I have bad things like the deaths of some of dearest friends I write about. When I have something overwhelming good happen I write it out. In dealing with the deaths of my friends I wrote a ten page poem and I have things that I want to do with it. With good thing that happened this past week I write a four pages essay about it. So writing is my answer to all of my feelings good and bad. So sorry for no fun new stories for the past few weeks. I hope to have time and the desire to write some of the plot lines that I have running through my head for about the past two months. I will let you know as I get started with that. Thanks for reading!

It was what they had always dreamed of

It was what they had always dreamed of. Clove and Nix clasped their hands together as the sun set in front of me. The wind lifted sand from under their feet as the waves beat nearby.
“Do you think like here?” asked Nix in his deep voice.
Clove nodded still watching the sun slowly move into the sea. Nix smiled as he pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead. No other sounds but the wind and water.
“It’s been so long since we had time together.” Clove said her voice softer than normal to not break the hush around them.
“Yes far too long.” Nix agreed.
The war was still raging out there in the universe but for now they were not part of it. Nix pulled Clove back to their open air tent. The white of the cloth was blazingly bright in the sunset going from white to orange. Inside there are was everything that they would need for a nice break from running from the Empire. Didn’t matter that the Emperor was dead everyone still wanted the plans in Clove’s head. Nix’s ship was close by and they had their net connections on but unless an empire vessel got too close then they would have no interruptions. Dinner waiting for them as they entered the tent. A fine spread of their favorite foods from Brie and chocolate to thinly chopped Alfal nuts from Nix’s home world. (They are like almonds with a bit of a bite at the end.) Nix took Clove’s hand to help her as she sat down. The cool breeze and low humidity helped with her constant pain. That and being with Nix, not in a dangerous life threatening way. Just her and him; on a beach. Nix’s finely scaled hand pulled at her skin slightly but nothing she was not used to.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“Just that I’m so glad that we’re here, alone and alone.” Clove reply smiling at him.
Nix smiled back and pulled her closer to him.
“Me too.”

Moving spider eggs

I had never seen one as big as that before. And that was saying something because I had been shipping ‘unusual’ things for about ten years now. I looked up at the client who was smiling at the giant ice spider egg the way a new mother looks at her baby. I was tempted to take off my bandana, that protected my third eye, and read his mind but decided against it. Anyone who looks at giant ice spiders, or at least their eggs, like that was head I had no business in.
“When can you guarantee delivery?” Mr. ‘Smith’ asked.
“Well I think that I can get to the over side of Neptune by tomorrow about nine in the morning.” I replied.

Mr. ‘Smith’ nodded, still smiling at the egg, as he signed my paperwork. He did not even notice the 25% mark-up I had added because it was a GIANT ICE SPIDER EGG. Even if I had pointed it out he would not have cared. After all no other shipper would touch it not just because it was a giant spider egg but mostly because you cannot just buy one from the net. But that was why he came to me and that was why I was in business. Import export business was a lucrative trade; if you stomach and/or live through your first job. Not the strangest thing that I have moved but definitely one of creepiest. I knew that I was going to be having dreams about this one for a while.
I put the egg in cold storage and locked the door. No way that thing was going to hatch while I was delivering it. The run was good. I got the thing out of my ship, signed for, and I was taking off when the first hairline cracks started showing on it. I was glad that I got paid up front. Ah the beauty of the modern age, credit sticks run through within twelve hours, and I had cleaned that 'Smith' out.

The Big city is different from Home

I wasn’t naïve, there was no way she was a superhero. But she did wear her knickers on top of her tights. And I like that in a person. But then again it was my first day in the ‘big’ city. San Francisco was the big city to me. The second clue that she could be a superhero was the fact that she was flying. With big colorful wings. She was diving straight down at some poor guy who, as I watched him, was hiding behind a normal looking woman. The guy was in purple and black with a half-face mask. And he was laughing in what I think was a maniacal fashion. I could practically see the explanation marks at the end of the laugh. He had at least five. The flying woman stopped just above him and glared down. At least I think it was a glare because her face was covered in a full mask.
“Well Bird? What now?” Purple mask demanded up at her.
“Now you are going to unhand that woman and come with me.” She replied.
“And why would I do that?”
“Because if you don’t then I will pull you both up with me and you will drop like a stone.”
“Idle threats mean nothing to me.” He sneered.
“They are only idle if I won’t do them.”

At this she dropped the last ten feet and stood in front of Purple Mask. He snarled at her. Really, honest-to-God snarled. The normal woman screamed something like ‘Help me’ but I’m not too sure. Someone snickering near my ear made me turn. Another guy in a mask but this time he was not dressed in purple and black. He was in gray with a full grey mask and he was leaning against the building behind me. The winged woman whipped her head around to look at me. Or rather just passed me at the other guy. He was clearly a guy and a guy the winged one was not happy with. She lifted her hand starting to flip him off but stopped herself. She put her back to him and went back to Purple Mask.
“Oh Birdy don’t be that way.” Grey said from behind me.

‘Birdy’ was fighting with Purple Mask and the woman got free. I don’t know how it ended but man that woman sure at some wings on her.

Series

Series are what I would like to talk about today. Series, love them or hate them, are everywhere. They have not always been. In fact before the beginning of the 1900 century series were seen as something only weak readers would read. Series were seen by librarians as something that should be used get young children to read but then they must weaned off of series so that they could read ‘real’ books. I learned this in a course about the history of books in grad school and it floored me. Series are just something that are so ingrained into our reading habits at this point that the very thought that they were or are less than real books just does not compute.

Now I both love and hate series at the same time. I love a good series with interesting characters that grow over the course of the book, I love to see the complex threads of a plotline come together, to see the stray threads just waiting to be picked up and explored in a later book. A series can be one of the most wonderful things in the reading world that you can read or write. A series gives both the writer and the reader a stable world to work and read from. It helps the writer because they do not have to be building new worlds with every book but can learn all about the world, they can know what color the shadows are. There is just something comforting about a known world.

But series can be boring. Because the writer does not have to be doing something all the time, some writers cannot do it. A standalone novel can be a wonderful experience. It can take you to new different places, can make us examine ideas that we have never encountered before, to go to strange new worlds, and seek out the human in them. New worlds are where we learn the most about ourselves and all literature in the end is about what it means to be human. What is human is the eternal question and literature is just one of the ways that we try to answer it.

So go write a series and a standalone novel. Go see where you best answer the eternal question of being human. You should be writing.

Writing and Reading

Something I hear from everyone in the writing field is that they all read and they read all the time. The reasons that are given are that it gives you new ideas, it shows you how any people are writing about X or Y, and that is makes you a better writer. Well I agree. Reading what others write will do all that for you and more. There is something about it that does good things for our brains. As a librarian I cannot stress the importance of reading enough. If you want to know more about the brain science behind why it is important just Google ‘brain science and reading’. There are many excellent articles from Science News and others about the importance of reading to the brain.

But what does reading do for writers? I cannot speak for others but for me it shows me what I like and what I do not like. When other writers use a certain turn of phrase that I just love I want to think of how to use it myself. Seeing both what other writers are writing about and how they are writing gives us learning writers’ guidance. When more experienced writers do something well, I want to copy it. That is not a bad thing. In fact it a good thing for younger writers to try and copy those we admire. It will teach us how to find our own voice. Every artist has a voice and the only way to find yours is to try on others first. Like when you were a child and you played dress up. You were trying on different voices to see if that one was closer to your voice. That said I do not endorse stealing from other artists. That is not the way to find your voice.

How can you try on different voices without stealing? One easy and safe way to do that is writing exercises. Take the characters or the setting or whatever really gets you and try writing it out. See where it takes you. Another thing that I have done is when something that I do not like in a book I have written out what I would have done. That has helped me get peace with the story or helped me get over the story. Do not feel bad about rewriting some other authors work, just do not steal it, of course. Be inspired by the works around you. Shakespeare borrowed, changed, and outright stole every one of his plays. They all are from older famous works so if another author has just the prefect sub plotline you need to jump start your own work, do not be afraid to use some or parts of it. Just do not steal from them. When in doubt contact the author and ask. Remember do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Until next week; write and be blessed.

Image from Google Images.

New writing schedule

So this week I have decided to try and use my free time for writing time. So far I have not had good results. Maybe it is this week because I have had personal life; like my cat going to the vet and my sister maybe here about a month early and my mother needs help getting ready for her and the children. But this week’s lack of word count is disheartening. In addition to my normal work for grad school and I have to do well to make certain powerful people happy. So I have written some on a short story that I plotted out with character bios and everything about two years ago. I was writing it when I realized that I needed to have a prologue to explain some background information that is important to the story but never talked about in the story itself. So I went back to the beginning and started writing a prologue. That is all I have done on it. It is less than 500 words and I want the story to be about 5000.

Well I am going to continue to try with this new writing schedule. Maybe this is just a bad week or maybe it just feels bad because I am trying something new. About the writing itself I have high hopes for my piece. I am writing a science fiction story and when I get it done (God I hope) then I get to give it to my beta readers. I am very lucky in my readers because I have someone who knows me so well that when I make a mistake, like switching words I do that a lot, he knows exactly what I am trying to saying. By switching words I mean this- “She walked towards the car. The rain was just a plain rain but the car made it shiny.” My brain moves faster than my hands and it shows. Then I have a grammar friend who loves me but hates my grammar. It is cool he is very helpful and nice about it. Then I have a creative writing friend and a last someone who could be a professional reader.

How I handle all this outside help? Well I do it in stages. I do not send my work out to a new beta until I have read and worked with all notes from the previous beta. I talk with my betas about their notes and why they felt that way about it. I listen to them when they are talking about their notes and I do not interrupt them while they are doing it. My betas are giving me something wonderful and I do my best to respect them when they are helping me become a better writer. Well hopefully I will have a better word count for you next week. Thanks for reading and see you next time.

The Thesaurus

  Today I wanted to talk about one of my favorite things in the world to use when I am writing: The Thesaurus. I love my thesaurus and Thesaurus.com. They have both saved my life while writing papers for classes, for blogging, for my creative writing, and for my personal writing. Now part of that is I have a learning disorder. It is just for math and spelling, when I try to remember how to do something like a math formula or spelling my brain just freezes. Now it does not matter how big the word or how complicated the formula I blank out. For the word ‘complicated’ I had to look it up. I spelled complex then looked at the synonyms to find it. Now this made my younger life so much harder than it had to be. My parents understood what was going on but my school(s) did not. They just thought that I would lazy or in the case of one teacher retarded. That teacher was the reason I was taken and tested for learning disorders and IQ. My mother, proudly, to this day says that my IQ is much higher than that of the teacher in question.

So how does this wonderful technology help the writer? Well I have already shown you one way; in that when you cannot remember how to spell a word you can just look it up. Google has smart text. As you are typing Google will try and guess what you are trying to say. Now I have defeated Google with words I am looking for. And I say this all modesty I have made Google have self-doubt. I now that some people will make fun of me but I do use Google to spell check. I know that Google is not all knowing but it is a very useful tool and I am not one to not a tool just because.

Another wonderful tool is a dictionary of synonyms and antonyms. I have two copies in my house. One that travels with me to class and out and about; the other one stays in my library in the house. I use that when I cannot remember what word I want when all I can remember is what the word means. So when I have my brain freeze I can remember what is does not mean. It is also useful because they do tell you more words that mean the same thing. I use it in that way when I am checking what a word means. Knowing the definition of a word does not mean that it the right word for the sentence. So when I have doubts about that I look up the word in my little dictionary or use Google and just read what the synonyms for it are. I have changed paragraphs because of this tool. Here are links to the websites that I use and have named in this post- http://thesaurus.com/, http://www.synonym.com/, http://www.oed.com/. Please tell me what you use when you are stuck on a word or if that is something special about me. Until next week then, je ne!

Personal Inspiration Part Three

For the last two weeks I have talked about how music and video games have and do inspire me in my writing. but I have yet to talk about my first source of inspiration: Art. Now that may seem obvious to some of you that Art would be inspiring for written work but what do you (or me or anyone for that matter) think is Art? Well I cannot help you with that because like good writing is subjective. What I find beautiful and inspiring you may think is trash and should never be seen ever again. The why of that is brain science and again I cannot help you but Google can. So go search that out and if you want back to me about it.

Back to the topic of Art and Inspiration; I remember the first piece of Art that inspired me. Well sort of. I was very young but I remember seeing a poster with the sun setting behind a mountain and top of the mountain was a unicorn. When I was five unicorns were pretty inspiring as an adult I find dragons much more so but I was a five-year-old girl so please do not judge me too hard. I just heard the story in my head about the unicorn climbing the hill for some reason or another; I do not remember why. But I do remember that being the first time that I just had to tell me story. My older sister was the one to hear and being almost ten years my senior was not impressed with a five-year-old tale but I told her nonetheless.

Now for art to entertain or inspire me I go to DeviantArt Link here- http://www.deviantart.com/. There I have met, followed, and even talked with some wonderful artists. Go there and just search for anything and there will be some art depicting it. I have some groups that I go to just to look at the pretty pictures but I always find something inspiring or something to help lift me up. Art is more than just pictures. They are emotions, memories, lies, and truth. Art is something that we all make every day whether we know it or not. Now just a warning about DA, there is a lot of pictures/painting/general art at depict sex, sex acts, or just generally sexual in nature. So if you have young eyes in the house, are young eyes yourself, or just do not care to see that type of thing beware. DA has those in abundance.

I think that I am done with Personal Inspiration. I have talked about music, games, other writers, and now just straight up Art. I hope that you have enjoyed this journey with me. On a different note I am submitting my piece ‘The Wanderer” to a flash fiction contest so wish me luck. Until next week dear reader, adieu.

Personal Inspiration Part 1

In a previous post I talked in general about inspiration and in this week’s post I would like to talk about what in particular I find inspiring. I personally find video games very inspiring and I do not think that I am alone in that. Video games are the artistic work of dozens of people from the storyline writers to the guys who write the code. Everyone working together for one common goal. To get this out of the way, yes I know that people make video games to make money. I know that everyone who works on a game is doing so with the end goal of paying the rent but the same can be said for all kinds of artists, in fact the same can be said for everyone on the planet. We are all just trying to make ends meet. So that does not bother me that all the music and stories that I love are made to make the rent. If I could I would too. So with that bit of nastiness out of the way I am going to tell you about the last thing that really inspired me.
In my house we have two PlayStation3’s. Both are loved because my spouse and I both love video games. On the PSN the online store for PS3 there is a wonderful little game called ‘Journey’. There is no real story just a basic outline of a traveler on a journey. You have your characters and sometimes if other people are playing the game too you can see other travelers. The first five minutes of watching him play this game build a fire in my brain. I had to write the story that was just bursting through me. It is flash fiction and I wrote in about 15 minutes. It is 593 words long (for now :-D) . Here is it.

The wanderer

The sand stretched endless before the wanderer. It stretched endless behind too. Nothing was here but sand, sun and the journey. No one made journey’s anymore they were the things of legend and lore. Only to be spoken of during the long winter’s nights in the place that the wanderer came from. The wanderer was clothed head to foot in a traveling cloak red as the sun that burned down on her. Under the hood some thought she was beautiful but in her small village she had the madness. It was a madness like they had not seen in four hundred years but was so bad that it was still talked of also on those long winter nights. The last one who had was also a woman, beautiful too but her beauty was nothing when seen with her madness. She wanted to see what was on the other side of the mountains. She wanted to know why the sun rose and what happened when it fell. She was wise and beautiful and untouchable because of the questions that poisoned her mind. Those questions were only for teachers to know and she was no teacher. The teachers had not come to the village in more years than could be recorded. But that was long ago and not the story of this wanderer, just the last one. The wanderer had not always been different but she learned it in small ways. When a traveling teacher had come and then stayed for the winter that was when the village elders noticed it. Boys and girls were taught whatever the teacher knew and that was as it should be. A little learning is good for the soul but it stayed in the wanderer’s mind like mud on a pair of boots. She wanted more. The teacher soon taught her everything he knew and it was not enough. Soon she knew more than he did reading every book he had with him and then she scoured the village for any books that she had never seen before. At first it was smiled at because the village needed someone who loved to learn all things but then it was frowned on because she was not doing anything but reading and talking with those who had read whatever book she had in her hand at the time. People began to talk about her behind her back then to her face. Soon her village was no home for her anymore. So she did what she had learned and went on a journey. She dressed in the robes of a wanderer and shook off her name as all wanderers’ do. She walked from sun up to sundown alone. No one bothered her because of her wanderers’ robes. All knew that only those with the madness began to leave where they were born, against how it should be, she was untouchable now to the greater beyond her small village because of her robes. She learned new things like loneliness and hunger and thirst but nothing could stop the thoughts and questions in her mind. Those were the only things that really mattered anymore to the wanderer. Slowly, like the first bub of spring, she learned how to feed herself from what was around her and what water was safest to drink in the burning sands. She learned how the stars danced in the sky and what dawn looked like on the ocean. But now she walking in the desert alone but not lonely. She had learned to be company to herself.

I personally love it but please tell me what you think. Until next week be well.

Internet writing resources

Today I would like to talk about how the Internet can help a writer not just distract us. The Internet can be a hindrance but it used with care it can help a struggling writer get through that next scene. I, personally, have a terrible time remembering how to spell words. It is a constant and annoying problem. Now, for me, when I say that I have trouble spelling words I sometimes cannot even remember what letter the word starts with. I know why I have that trouble but that does not help me when I can writing. So Google has saved my life so many times. When I cannot remember how a word starts I think about what the word means or what a synonym/antonym to the word is. Worse comes to worse I will just ask someone(usually the spouse he's good like that.).

Another excellent source for a writer who is having trouble just getting started is prompts. There are many websites that are just full with writing prompts but my personal favorite is Adam Maxwell's writing prompts. Here is website- http://www.adammaxwell.com/writers-tools/writing-prompts-generator/. When you want a or need a new prompt you just refresh the page. The prompts are to the up right under the banner but the whole page is about writing prompts and people talking in the comments. I like the whole set-up and I love to write using prompts. Prompts can give a writer a way to take a story that you never would have thought of yourself. If the prompts you get does not work will what you are trying to write just either refresh the page or try running a Google search for prompts for mystery stories or chick-lit. The Internet has all those and so many more than I can think of.

The next thing that the Internet gives writers is the ability to connect with each other. The is nothing like the support one writer or artist can give to each other. we understand each other like no one else can. I belong to some writer groups like NaNoWriMo and Master Koda on Facebook. The understanding and honesty that we have with other artists is amazing and sometimes just what you need to hear. No matter what kind of art you do you need to have support not just from family and friends but other people you need to have contact with others who do the somethings you do. That is because you need someone who not afraid to tell you the truth. People who love you may not be able to express what they really think about your work, if it not 'Everything you do is awesome!', because they do not want to hurt your feelings or discourage you. So having people who care more about your growth as an artist than your feelings is something every artist needs.

I may return to this topic again because I have not exhausted the Internets at all. Thank you for reading and see you next week!

Atmosphere

Today I really did not know what to write so I asked my spouse and he suggested atmosphere. Not setting or the atmosphere in a story but what atmosphere does someone write in? That is a very personal question that changes from writer to writer. For me I like to write in my library with some music going in my ears. The music that I listen changes from story to story that I write and even from scene to scene. I mostly like to have instrumental pieces going but not always. Now other writers like to have different things when they write. John Ringo has to have total silence and at home. I, personally, cannot write at home. Too many things that I could be doing like my yoga or something for grad school or just playing a video game. I need to be somewhere else. Something about it focuses me like nothing else.

I think that atmosphere is something that does play into the writing in of your book, poems, or music. If you need to put more action in a scene maybe you should change your scene. One thing that I have learned with all my years of writing and trying and everything else that all artists understand is that sometimes it is not the art that is the problem. Sometimes it is you. Now that does not mean stop or that you have made a mistake or anything like that. But maybe you should stop for a moment. Walk away with your thoughts and change your atmosphere. If you normally work in a loud, busy place go somewhere quiet and just feel. The same thing is true if for a quiet place. Being aware of your personal setting is just as important knowing your fictional one.

When is the best time for you to work? That is something personal again. If you do not know when the best time already is then you should try the following. Try working at different times of the day for about a week. For example work in the morning for a week and see if that works well and even if it does you should move the time by a few hours the next week. When you do get a time that you work better in then you should notice something really cool. Your body and your brain will become used to working at this time and you will see an improvement in your productivity. It is an amazing thing but it is true. Something about doing the same thing every day or so and habits do work. I need to do it again for myself if I ever want to get this writing thing as more than just fantasy. The last time I did it was for evening work but with times changing in my grad school I need to make a writing change too. I think that I should try and shoot for afternoon work. But at the moment I do not know when I will be writing again.

Dreams and goals

Today’s post is about me coming clean. I am lazy. I have not written anything but what I have had to write for Grad school for the past few months. I am not telling you this to get sympathy from any of my readers. I think it is time for me to be honest about it. I do not really know why I have had so much trouble writing these past months. I have had plenty of free time; I have not been pulling into a video game or an MMO like I have before. I think that it all comes down to self-discipline. Every successful writer that I know of has great amounts of self-discipline. They make the writing a top priority in their lives. I have talked with authors and other writers; and they all have pretty much the same story. In order to be a successful writer they make time, they make the writing everything for themselves, but that leaves me with the question. How?

How do I do that same thing in my life? So far I have not found a how. I think about writing, I think about what stories I want to get done but I have done nothing towards getting them written, editing, or anything towards being published. I am beginning to think that I like the dream of being a writer but for some reason I am not willing to anything to making less than a dream and more of a goal. The difference between a dream and a goal is a plan and I have no plan for becoming a published author. Especially sense I want to be a ‘mainstream’ author. I have problems with that word because I am a Science Fiction and Fantasy dreamer and ‘mainstream’ look down on us dreamers. I written about how Science Fiction and mainstream interact but in one of my grad school classes I wrote about Science Fiction and Society. The word ‘mainstream’ is not even in the language until 1964, by in the language I mean it was not in the Oxford English Dictionary until then. Science Fiction as a literary concept is over 100 years old. I have the position that Science Fiction has an important role in and for society.

But that is not what this post is about. This post is about how I have no real drive to make my dreams into reality. I do not know if I am just scared because to have dream be real mean that they change. Reality is never like a dream, reality is hard and scary, and things do not always work out; either for the best or for you. In the past year I have done a lot of research about publishing, publishers, copyright laws, author’s rights, and just getting published. I know that it is hard, I know that there are so many very talented people all trying for the same thing and maybe that is just it. Growing up I was told that no matter how good at something I was there will always be someone who is better at it. Maybe I just have not worked that out. The reason I think that is my problem is that I have a lot of self-discipline in so many other areas of life. I am in graduate school, I take care of myself( and I have Lupus and fibromyalgia so that is not easy at times), I am married and have been with the same guy for ten years now, and I have two blogs that I post for on a weekly basis. I have self-discipline or I would not have all the really good things in my life. I think that I am just afraid. Now I just do not know what to do with it. I know that this post has to resolution but it is honest. Thanks for reading always and see you next week.